The Ducati Team riders, Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow, finished the first two free practice sessions in seventh and fourteenth place respectively at the Automotodrom Brno, where round 11 of the MotoGP World Championship is taking place. Ducati Test Team rider Michele Pirro, who is entered as a wild-card in the Czech round, was in eleventh.

In the first morning session, all the riders were able to lap on a dry track, but the arrival of rain at the start of FP2 meant that no one could improve their times in the afternoon.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) - 7th (1'57.169)
"This morning we started off very well, and our lap times were always close to the guys at the front, even at the end of the session with the same tyres I had used throughout. We still have to improve the front of the bike, especially when exiting turns, but all things considered it was a good start. The afternoon session wasn't very useful for working in the wet, because there wasn't much water, but it's always important to go out in these conditions: we might even encounter them on Sunday in the race, so in any case it was a useful session."

Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team #35) - 14th (1'58.340)
"Today didn't go to plan unfortunately and in the first session we really struggled. We had some plans for the second session then the rain came so we were disappointed with the situation because tomorrow morning maybe it will be wet as well and that means we are not in the top 10. We have to assess the situation tomorrow but I was pleased with the feeling in the rain with my GP14; it was a lot better than in Assen, so I think we made some progress there. I have to find a better feeling with the dry bike and hopefully tomorrow can be a bit better for us."

Michele Pirro (Ducati Test Team #51) - 11th (1'58.340)
"This morning I was quite happy because, despite not riding a bike for almost two months, I had already managed to improve my time from last year by one second: it's positive because it means that the bike has improved. Unfortunately the afternoon session was ruined by the rain: I had a few set-up problems in the wet, which I was unable to resolve before the end of the session. I hope that tomorrow the weather improves and I'll try and get into the top 10."

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Repsol Honda

Mixed conditions on first day in Czech Republic
Temperamental weather has once again played its part on the first day in Brno. Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez was fastest for the day after leading this morning's dry session with a time of 1'56.803 on his final lap of 17. Teammate Dani Pedrosa finished third, just 0.052 off Marc, with 1'56.855 on lap 16 of 17.

As black clouds emerged over the Czech circuit, the riders exited onto the track to begin FP2. Light rain began to fall and only two riders recorded times in the almost-dry conditions (Iannone and Barbera) as all riders returned to the pits for rain tyres. Heavy rain arrived and remained for most of the session. Although some parts of the track dried out, it wasn't possible to change back to slick tyres as there were still areas of the 5.4km Brno track that remained very wet, meaning nobody bettered their FP1 times.

Marc was fastest in the wet conditions, with his time of 2'07.846 (lap 10 of 12) and Dani was just two thousandths off his teammate with 2'07.848 (on lap 11 of 13), with Iannone and Barbera's times from the 50/50 conditions out of reach.

FP3 will commence at 09h55 local time tomorrow.

TEAM QUOTES

Marc Marquez
1st - 1'56.803

"I am happy with how the practices went today as the track has changed substantially compared with how it was when we tested here. I expected this, and we adapted our setup accordingly in the sessions - although I am still not entirely satisfied. In the afternoon when the track was wet - especially at the start of FP2 - I was able to lap consistently and I felt good which is important. We will see what the weather is like tomorrow and if we can have a good qualifying session"

Dani Pedrosa
3rd - 1'56.855
"Today went well for us. We had one practice in the dry and the other in wet conditions, and I think that overall we need more dry track time in order to be able to test out different tyres and setups. It's been a good day and we can't wait to get back to work tomorrow"

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Yamaha

Rain Disrupts Free Practice as Brno Begins

Brno (Czech Republic), 15th August 2014

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi made a strong start to this weekend's Grand Prix České Republiky in this morning's first practice session, but were frustrated by wet weather in the afternoon.

After a successful weekend in Indianapolis, Lorenzo kept the momentum going today in Brno. The Spaniard was enjoying the flowing Czech circuit and was quick to top the timesheets, rival Marc Marquez taking over just half way through the session. Lorenzo finished Free Practice #1 with a best time of 1'56.840, only 0.037 off the lead, moving him to second place.

Teammate Rossi displayed a good race pace during his long stints in the morning. The Italian consistently lapped in the 1'57's and topped the leaderboard multiple times. His fastest lap was a 1'57.532, securing him fifth place.

The teammates were both eager to improve on their times during Free Practice #2, but only three minutes into the session it started to rain, putting the action on hold. With 19 minutes left on the clock all the riders went back out in the pouring rain to work on a set-up for wet conditions.

Towards the end of the session Lorenzo and Rossi started to quicken their paces but they were unable to improve on their times from this morning.

Jorge Lorenzo
2nd / 1'56.840 / 14 laps

"While riding in the dry conditions this morning I was quite surprised by our performance. It was good from the beginning but I felt that we had a lot of things to adjust, so the margin for improvement was high. Unfortunately it rained in the afternoon. In those conditions we are still quite far from the fastest. We need to work on our set-up for the wet, because it seems like it's going to rain tomorrow, but not on Sunday. We want to be fast tomorrow if it rains; in case of dry conditions I think we are quite good."

Valentino Rossi
5th / 1'57.065 / 12 laps

"This morning we rode the bike with the dry tyres and dry setting. Unfortunately we had some rain this afternoon. It's a shame because we have to try something to improve the setting, but at the same time I did get to do some laps in the wet. I tried the bike with the wet tyres and the first impression was not so bad, but we have to work to improve. We have to prepare the bike as soon as possible because we lost one practice session and need to have a clear idea of what we will do in case of a wet situation. We have to work with the team and be ready for tomorrow. In the wet conditions we lose a little bit in acceleration. The problem is that, though I'm in the third position, my rivals are one second faster. It looks like they are very strong."

Massimo Meregalli

"We started really well this morning; it seems that our base set up is already a good level for the Brno circuit. We still have some areas where we can make several steps so it was frustrating to have the rain come down this afternoon, stopping us from continuing our work from the first practice. It looks like it's going to be dry for the race but maybe wet for qualifying so we are working to try and make sure we are prepared for all eventualities."

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Pramac

Brno; eighth position for Yonny Hernandez, Iannone first in FP2.

In the FP1 this morning, Andrea Iannone had to face some problems of stability and grip with his GP14. Despite the work of technicians it was not possible to resolve the situation by the end of the session. After a few minutes from the start of FP2 it started to rain not allowing Andrea to see if the changes made on his Ducati were valid. During the first few minutes of the session Andrea managed to complete a lap in 2'03.279 with slick tires conquering the first position, unfortunately it is not useful for the combined classification that finds him only in twelfth place with a lap time of 1'58.061, forcing him to postpone all the work tomorrow.

This morning Yonny Hernandez (EnergyT.I. Pramac Racing) after a first phase of studying the track, whereas this is his first time at Brno circuit on the Ducati, Just three laps from the end of the FP2 he gained eighth place with a lap time of 1'57.190. In the second session of free practice Yonny did not manage to find the right tune with his bike because of the rain and finished in thirteenth place.

Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing)

"The session this morning was very difficult for me, I could not find the right feeling from the start. The bike was moving a lot, especially coming out of corners and it was hard to ride. I thought there was a problem so I stopped in the pit lane to control it, but when I got back on track I had the same problems as before. I managed to do a good lap with the slick tires in FP2 obtaining a good lap time, but also with the wet track I was fast. This is one of the first times that I had a good feeling on the wet with the Ducati and gave me more confidence in conditions of rain. "

Yonny Hernandez (EnergyT.I. Pramac Racing)

"I am pleased with the result today and to be back in the top ten, but not it's not over yet! unfortunately this afternoon it rained and we were not able to continue the work with the dry set-up. With the rain we had difficulty in finding the right map. Having worked a little in wet conditions we still have to improve in certain aspects. I hope that tomorrow I'll be able to do even better. "

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LCR Honda

BRADL SIXTH OVERALL AT THE END OF DAY ONE AT BRNO CIRCUIT

Brno, 15 August: after a little time to rest the MotoGP riders were back out on track for the opening day of the Grand Prix České Republiky in mixed conditions. The morning session was dry with LCR Honda Stefan Bradl getting the 6th lap time riding his CWM branded RC213V but the second outing was affected by heavy rain. Despite the bad weather conditions Bradl could proceed with his TO DO list fine-tuning his machine even in the wet and feels pretty competitive in both conditions.

Stefan: "Actually today we are sixth overall in the combined practice which is okay. The good thing is that we only loose two tenths to the top guys. The consistency in the morning session was quite good and I am really optimistic for the weekend to have a good pace in the dry. In the afternoon we lapped in the wet with a good feeling. Now we want to go for some adjustments, both in the wet and in the dry, to improve the bike turning. So our weekend so far is okay".

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Drive M7

DRIVE M7 Aspar riders undertake first day at Brno with caution

Hiroshi Aoyama, 17th, and Leon Camier, 22nd, took part in two sessions with different conditions on day one at Brno, trying out new setups in the wet and dry.

The MotoGP riders had two very different sessions to open the Czech Grand Prix weekend. The first took place in the dry and was a comletely normal session, topped by Marc Márquez with Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa close behind. The difference between the three was just 0.052s at the end of the opening runout. In the afternoon, rainfall almost immediately after the session had started sent the riders to their garajes, reemerging ten minutes later onto a completely wet track. On the combined timesheets for the day, Márquez, Lorenzo and Pedrosa continued to lead the way, but things are very close indeed at Brno.

In the morning session the DRIVE M7 Aspar riders worked normally, but in the afternoon rain obliged Hiro Aoyama y Leon Camier to ride with caution. The duo had practically an entire session in which to ride in wet conditions, and Aoyama gathered plenty of data for the future. Camier rode DRIVE M7 Aspar Honda for the first time last weekend, and was able to continue his learning process today under almost completely new conditions. At the end of the day, Aoyama placed seventeenth and Camier twenty-second.

17th Hiroshi Aoyama 1.58.895 (33 Laps): "This morning in the dry we tested out some things with the front end and with the rear. These changes allowed us to improve the setup of the bike at the end of the session. We also gathered a lot of information that has helped us make plans for a clear direction in the second session. We had further things to try out in the afternoon, but the rain forced us to change our plans and we were unable to contrast what we did in the morning. The feeling was great in the wet, but we lost a bit of grip with the front. The front wheel slid out a lot and it was not easy to adapt when turning the bike. In conclusion, we have to check that our dry setup from today is a good one, and in the wet we need to improve the front end. It looks as if the weather is going to be a little strange this weekend, so we shall have to try to adapt to whatever it brings."

22nd Leon Camier 2.00.445 (30 laps): "At Indianapolis we understood the direction to take to improve, so today we worked with that in mind. We are trying to take another step forward, to try to brake later and turn the bike in better. The adaptation was relatively simple, but trying to push more on this bike is another matter. This morning I felt comfortable in the dry, but in the afternoon I found it hard to understand how to use the tyres and set the bike up for the wet. It is important to continue gaining confidence and find out where the limits of this bike are. There is no doubt that the main keys to further progress with my confidence are tyres and brakes. With this bike you need to load weight on the front to help you to turn in quickly. I had hoped to continue to learn about the bike and take steps forward, but the rain this afternoon hindered that a bit. Still, I'm happy because the team have once again helped me a lot to learn from the different situations that I've encountered so far."

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Scott Redding

Redding quick in both wet and dry at Brno

Brno, Czech Republic - 15 August 2014: The Grand Prix of the Czech Republic got underway today with one dry and one wet free practice session, with Scott Redding the fastest Honda RCV1000R rider in both.

The 21-year-old Briton ended this morning's dry free practice in 13th position after making the most of the almost perfect conditions to post a time of 1'58.301, just 1.498s off the fastest time of Marc Marquez and 0.3s quicker than his factory RCV213V mounted teammate, Alvaro Bautista.

Rain arrived shortly after the start of the 45-minute afternoon free practice session, eventually becoming heavy enough to warrant wet tyres. In tricky conditions Redding posted a time of 2'09.869 to finish 11th on the timesheet, again ahead of Bautista, but this time by more than a second.

Scott Redding // 13th // 1'58.301
"I'm happy with this morning's free practice session in the dry, because this is a difficult track for me and also for our bike I think, but I felt good from the start this morning. I used the same tyres for the whole session, posting my quickest lap on my final run, which is also good. In the afternoon I got to test the bike in full wet conditions. I was a little bit apprehensive, maybe even a little bit nervous, but it wasn't bad at all and my confidence increased quite quickly. Now we have some more data we can work more on our wet settings for the bike, but it was also good to finish as the fastest Open Class Honda in what was my first full wet session on the bike. You need power in a lot of places here at Brno, but tomorrow we will try to close the gap to the group of bikes in front of me, as it was a bit too big today."

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Yamaha

Rain Disrupts Free Practice as Brno Begins

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi made a strong start to this weekends Grand Prix České Republiky in this mornings first practice session, but were frustrated by wet weather in the afternoon.

After a successful weekend in Indianapolis, Lorenzo kept the momentum going today in Brno. The Spaniard was enjoying the flowing Czech circuit and was quick to top the timesheets, rival Marc Marquez taking over just half way through the session. Lorenzo finished Free Practice #1 with a best time of 156.840, only 0.037 off the lead, moving him to second place.

Teammate Rossi displayed a good race pace during his long stints in the morning. The Italian consistently lapped in the 157s and topped the leaderboard multiple times. His fastest lap was a 1'57.532, securing him fifth place.

The teammates were both eager to improve on their times during Free Practice #2, but only three minutes into the session it started to rain, putting the action on hold. With 19 minutes left on the clock all the riders went back out in the pouring rain to work on a set-up for wet conditions.

Towards the end of the session Lorenzo and Rossi started to quicken their paces but they were unable to improve on their times from this morning.

Jorge Lorenzo
2nd / 1'56.840 / 14 laps
While riding in the dry conditions this morning I was quite surprised by our performance. It was good from the beginning but I felt that we had a lot of things to adjust, so the margin for improvement was high. Unfortunately it rained in the afternoon. In those conditions we are still quite far from the fastest. We need to work on our set-up for the wet, because it seems like its going to rain tomorrow, but not on Sunday. We want to be fast tomorrow if it rains; in case of dry conditions I think we are quite good.

Valentino Rossi
5th / 1'57.065 / 12 laps
This morning we rode the bike with the dry tyres and dry setting. Unfortunately we had some rain this afternoon. Its a shame because we have to try something to improve the setting, but at the same time I did get to do some laps in the wet. I tried the bike with the wet tyres and the first impression was not so bad, but we have to work to improve. We have to prepare the bike as soon as possible because we lost one practice session and need to have a clear idea of what we will do in case of a wet situation. We have to work with the team and be ready for tomorrow. In the wet conditions we lose a little bit in acceleration. The problem is that, though Im in the third position, my rivals are one second faster. It looks like they are very strong.

Massimo Meregalli - Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

We started really well this morning; it seems that our base set up is already a good level for the Brno circuit. We still have some areas where we can make several steps so it was frustrating to have the rain come down this afternoon, stopping us from continuing our work from the first practice. It looks like it's going to be dry for the race but maybe wet for qualifying so we are working to try and make sure we are prepared for all eventualities.

Espargaro and Smith blaze through mixed conditions on first day at Brno

Rookie Pol Espargaro opened his inaugural MotoGP account in the Czech Republic with a positive finish on the opening day of practice at Brno for the eleventh round of the 2014 World Championship. He kicked off his free practice campaign by initially leading the bright and sunny FP1 session, before eventually finishing in 9th position with a time of 157.634 that was only eight tenths of a second from the top position. Around midday the clouds rolled over the undulating Czech circuit which is hosting its 27th MotoGP event this weekend and the rain proceeded to fall as soon as the afternoon practice session began. Yet Espargaro powered through the tricky conditions before finishing with a best time of 209.412 in 8th position and additionally clinched the overall top speed of the session with 306.9 km/h. The reigning Moto2 World Champion will aim for a strong result in qualifying tomorrow in view to Sundays race as he plans to further build on his current, impressive placement of sixth in the World championship.

On the other side of the garage, Bradley Smith ended the opening day of practice in tenth position in the combined standings after the rain in the afternoon prevented him of beating his morning practice time. The young British rider who has extended his contract for an additional year with the Monster Yamaha Tech3 squad after the announcement earlier this week, began the opening day of practice with a best lap of 157.816 having experimented with various aspects of his Yamaha YZR-M1 as he sought to establish a solid setup. In the afternoon session, the 23-year-old rider braved the slippery track surface at the 5403 metre circuit to finish in ninth with a best time of 209.722. His pace in the tricky conditions was highly impressive, clocking the quickest sector times out of all the Yamaha MotoGP bikes in the first half of the circuit whilst his perseverance saw him riding the most, with 15 laps undertaken. Tomorrow he will look to qualify on the front two rows following his hard fought sixth place finish in Indianapolis.

Pol Espargaro
9th / 1'57.634 / 15 laps

It has been quite an eventful first day here in Brno and we collected a lot of useful information for the weekend. This afternoon has been the first time that we could test the bike in full wet conditions and the truth is that I'm really happy about how the session went. The grip with the rain tyres is amazing and I nearly touched the curb with my elbow even though it was wet! I have to thank Bradley because I did many laps behind him and I learnt a lot about the line and how smooth I have to ride with the wet surface by following him. I rode some competitive lap times and the rhythm was consistent as well, so of course there is room to improve but we have started in a positive fashion. During this morning's session, I was probably riding a bit too aggressively and in a way that the Yamaha should not be ridden around this track so I think we can certainly be much faster. Moreover we have struggled in a few areas, for example at the exit of the corner where the bike is sliding quite a lot and overall I'm lacking a bit of grip at the moment, but for sure we can resolve this issue for tomorrow. During FP2 we actually planned to try the harder tyre compound which I felt very confident with in Indianapolis but the session turned out to be a wet one, so we will have to wait until tomorrow.

Bradley Smith
10th / 1'57.816 /15 laps

All in all it was a good day for me today, even though the conditions were mixed. Overall, Id say that we have been lucky with the weather so far this year, but we must always expect the rain to come at some point as it did today. In the morning I tried both bikes and we now have a very clear direction of which way we want to go in terms of a dry setup. I was clearly able to undertake a much quicker pace in the final run this morning, so we will continue with this setup. In the afternoon session I was instantly comfortable on the wet surface and my lap times were comparable to the other riders who stayed out for nearly 30 minutes. The track eventually started to dry and I didnt push right on the limit straight away as the aim was just to obtain some more valuable data. This is especially useful as it looks like there will be more mixed conditions tomorrow, but overall I am pleased with what we achieved today.

Espargaro 4th with De Angelis making his debut on changing conditions at Brno

NGM Forward Racing rider Aleix Espargaro set todays fourth fastest time at the GP of Czech Republic with his best lap time of 157.002, less than two tenths from the provisional pole. It was a positive start also for new teammate Alex De Angelis, who made his debut on a Forward Yamaha this morning with a very positive feeling.

The second free practice session was spoiled by the rain. Both Espargaro and De Angelis spent FP2 working on the wet set-ups but the section was not really productive as the track started to dry after the first 20 minutes. De Angelis, who constantly improved in the FP1 and finished 19th, expected to improve his lap time in the FP2, but with the rain he had to start to understand the new machine on the wet.

Aleix Espargaro
4th / 1'57.002 /14 laps
This morning we struggled with the front because the bike doesnt turn as I would like. We made some big changes for the FP2 and the first impression was positive but I couldnt confirm the solutions we were testing as it started to rain. It was a pity because then the track started to dry so we couldnt really use the session to refine the set-up. If we have these conditions on Sunday it will be a very difficult race, because half track was completely dry while another half was wet.

Alex De Angelis
19th / 1'59.959 / 13 laps

Its great to return to MotoGP and Im happy with the result we got this morning. We started with a standard setup with a lot of traction control just to get the feeling with the bike. Lap by lap we improved and Im satisfied. The plan was to continue to work in the afternoon, but due to the rain I had to try the wet set-up. I struggled more in the FP2 and it was not easy to understand the bike in these changing conditions. Anyway Im confident that I can improve during the weekend.